


Dragon Dance

by rixsig-writes (rixsig)



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Babysitting supernatural beings who are supposed to be wiser than you, Haha hope you're ready to fight for your 'chill' label Hakaze, Kaoru's still a human in idol school though, M/M, Shu is a dragon, Will eventually have copious amounts of fluff because duh it's Kaoru, crow!mika
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2018-01-17
Packaged: 2019-02-23 14:08:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13191696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rixsig/pseuds/rixsig-writes
Summary: When a dragon falls from the sky Kaoru's the only one to see it happen. This has many, many unfortunate consequences...and maybe even a few good ones.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> that new dragon!shu card is beautiful and i am very, very weak. 
> 
> hope you guys are ready for me to inflict my rarepairs on this fandom too buckle up my friends

There’s thunder in the air when it crashes down to earth.

Kaoru could swear he feels the ground shake under his feet when it happens, but when he checks the news later there’s no reports on it at all. On anything: an earthquake, a thunderstorm, a meteor.

A dragon.

But no matter how stupid that last one sounds Kaoru can’t forget it. The slice of a giant tail, the shine of lightning on silver scales, a rage-filled scream. His feet almost move on their own as he runs through the trees, slapping aside stray branches and sliding through muck. He’s never run this fast for anything before but he has to know, he just has to know he’s not crazy—

He folds over gasping at the edge of a small gorge, propping his hands on his knees and squinting through the sweaty fringe of his hair. Something’s there, moving in the dark. He can see it. But it seems...smaller than it should be? The clouds drift apart, and moonlight cuts through the shadows, revealing splayed limbs and the planes of a regal-looking face.

Beautiful, is his first awed thought.

But he kills it immediately because that’s a man there, lying unconscious in a crater far larger than he should have ever been able to make. Nothing about it makes sense. Shouldn’t he be dead? There isn’t even a single drop of blood anywhere. Nothing looks horribly broken. If it weren’t for the ornate clothes he was wearing Kaoru could’ve just written him off as some dumb first-time hiker who got lost and unlucky, passed out by the stream.

Before Kaoru realizes he’s recovered his breath he’s already scrambling down to the bottom, trying to get a better look. There’s some weird pointy shapes around the man’s head. Branches? He steps closer and almost swallows his tongue when he sees what they really are. Horns. The man has _horns_ , what the fuck?

Suddenly he feels a lot less crazy and a lot more freaked out. There’s no way. There’s no way that’s a dragon….dude...a dragon-dude right there. He drops to his knees beside the man and pats at one of the horns. It feels cold and hard under his hand, and when he follows the line of it down it joins smoothly into the man’s skull with no gaps no matter how thoroughly Kaoru’s fingers poke and prod. They’re real. He’s real. He’s—

He’s waking up.

Sharp eyes snap open and skewer him through, and for a moment Kaoru’s paralyzed. But then the man’s mouth thins into a line and those eyes pass right over him, like he’s not even worth bothering with for a second. “Blasted Tenshouin,” he grumbles with venom, smacking Kaoru’s hand away. “Can’t win against me fairly so he resorts to a wretched scheme like this. I should have expected nothing less.”

The man tries to sit up but fails, jolting to a halt halfway through. He pauses with a frustrated huff, braces both his hands firmly on the ground, and then with a great heaving motion something erupts from the mound of scattered earth beside him.

That is a tail! Kaoru’s brain yells as he’s pelted with dirt. Strong and sinuous, a gleaming silver under the moonlight. The man shakes it out primly and then successfully gets up to his feet just as a strangled noise dies a slow death in Kaoru’s throat. There’s no mistaking it. It’s smaller, but the exact same shape. Kaoru feels like he still has the afterimage of it burned into the backs of his eyelids.

Kaoru puts a hand over his face. Shuts out the world and just breathes for a second. You know, it’s fine. So dragons are real, it’s fine. This one doesn’t seem to care that Kaoru exists anyway, so he’ll just go back home, go to sleep, wake up, and then live his life like normal. He’ll just coast through the last months of this last school year like he’s been planning, break his sister’s engagement like he’s been planning, and then resign himself to becoming a proper heir or whatever like his dad’s been planning, and the world will keep on turning like it always has.

Kaoru gets up, brushes the grit out of his hair, and watches as the man eyes the sky speculatively. What...is he doing…? As he keeps watching the man slides into a stance, bending his legs slightly, and Kaoru holds his breath, the whole world seeming to fall into a sudden hush along with him.

Then with a mighty jump and a whip of his tail the man ascends, the gossamer fabric of his sash seeming to float as if in water, and for a glorious, elegant moment Karou could believe that the vision of this will change his life forever.

Then the man crashes back to the ground.

“What—what on earth is this?!” The man sputters, scrambling back onto unsteady feet. He tries a small, testing hop, which must not give him the results he’s looking for because his entire face flushes blood dark. His fingers explore over his own calves then press at regular intervals on his thighs. He takes out a fan, waves it in a rush, and waits, expectant. Absolutely nothing happens. “It’s...gone. It’s all gone. Everything’s gone.” A horrified pause. “No...have I been _sealed_?!”

The man paces in a tight circle, once, twice, three times, hands ineffectually pulling at his short hair. “I’ve been cast out, I have no way to return. Kagehira is going to be _frantic_ —” All at once he stops stock-still, snapping his head up and glaring upwards with the most vicious expression Kaoru has ever seen on a person.

“TENSHOUIN! This is beyond the pale even for you!” the man bellows at the clouds, hands curled into fists. “Don't pretend you aren't watching this like it's your own twisted version of entertainment! I'll make you feel as much regret as no creature has felt in a million lifetimes, you VILLAINOUS WORM!”

Kaoru’s ears start to ring painfully and okay, that’s enough of that. “Hey man,” he ventures, stepping in closer. Before he can think better of it his hand lands on the guy’s shoulder. “Maybe quiet it down a little? Someone else is going to come running if you keep doing that.”

“ _Hkgh_!” The man squeaks. His shoulders jump like he’s been electrocuted, his head whipping in Kaoru’s direction and eyes widening in shock. “You!” He then seems to struggle for a good, solid minute to say anything else. “You...how dare you...unhand me this instant, you brute!” He bats Kaoru’s hand away again and stares at him with great intensity. “What nonsense is this? You’re aware of my presence?”

Kaoru finds his spine straightening against his will but he does his best to seem casual about it. “Uh...yeah?”

The man’s eyes narrow again. “Even this too…?” he murmurs to himself.

“What? Not supposed to happen?” It’s fine. It’s all fine. This is just like talking to any run of the mill, extremely high-strung person. Not a big deal at all. Just keep looking at his eyes and don’t stare at the horns, don’t stare at the horns, don’t stare at—

“No one but the humans with the most spiritual power can see us unless we will it.” The man sniffs disdainfully. “And I rarely wish to be seen.”

Kaoru blinks. “Wait. Hold on. Are you saying I have—?”

The man snorts. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“God, you’re uncute even for a guy,” Kaoru mutters.

The man scowls at him and Kaoru scratches at his own head. He’s not sure how he expected discovering a dragon to go, but this isn’t it. This dude’s a pain and Kaoru can’t imagine this conversation going anywhere either. Maybe he should just go home. He needs to get rested for his date tomorrow anyway. “Well. It was cool talking to a...dragon...I guess. Good luck with whatever you’re doing, man.” He turns, giving a lazy wave over his shoulder as he starts picking his way out of the gorge. He’s gonna go to sleep. He’s gonna go to sleep and forget all of this and it’ll all be like a really bad, really pointless dream.

“W-Wait!”

Kaoru freezes despite himself, turning around to see the man with his arms crossed and his face looking even crosser.

“...I’m in need of directions to the nearest shrine,” the man continues begrudgingly.

“Huh? A shrine? Why?”

“I’m sure a lesser deity will do me the courtesy of offering me shelter while I regain my strength.”

Not just a dragon, but a dragon _god_? Kaoru points north-east, somehow sinking into a new, fresh layer of disbelief. “When you hit the road turn right. It won’t be far.”

The man just nods. Kaoru watches him uncross his arms and head in that direction, moving like he’s not all that used to navigating terrain any bumpier than a hardwood floor. Is he going to be alright…?

“Hey!” he finds himself calling out. Oh no. What is he doing. He doesn't need to do this— “You can stay a night or two at my place. If you need to.”

The man doesn’t even look back, waving him off in dismissal. “Unnecessary. And I hardly want to think of the subpar conditions you’re living in.”

Well fine, dragon-dude can trip and stumble his way to hell if he’s going to be like that. Kaoru sighs to himself and climbs back out the way he came. He can’t believe he just put so much effort into talking to a guy. Even if he is divine or whatever.

The walk back to his apartment seems to take twice as long as it should, and when he gets back and trudges up the stairs he hardly has enough energy to change out of his grubby, mud-caked clothes and into his sleepwear before conking out to sleep.

 

* * *

 

A harsh, staccato knock wrests Kaoru out of his slumber a mere two hours later and he stumbles out of bed and to the door, opening it with an unbecoming yawn. The apartment manager? A neighbor? At this time of night? “Whas’ wrong?”

Someone clears their throat. “On reflection...I’d like to accept your offer.”

All the sleepiness gets slapped right out of him. “What—how did you—what happened to the shrine?” Fuck, dragon-guy really is real. He’d so been hoping he’d just been crazy.

“I may have underestimated Tenshouin’s influence,” the man replies with no small amount of bitterness.

Now that Kaoru’s looking properly, the man looks much more frazzled than before. What’s with this Tenshouin dude? Is there some heavenly war happening above their heads no one else knows about?

“Well?” The man snaps impatiently. “Are you going to keep an important guest waiting on your doorstep all night?”

“Look, I only offered to let you stay out of the goodness of my heart. Who says I want to let a _guy_ stay at my place? Let alone a rude guy who won’t even introduce himself?”

The man, who already has rigidly perfect posture, seems to straighten up to an even fuller height, intoning his introduction with flashing eyes and grave ceremony. “I am Itsuki Shu, Dragon of the Zodiac and rightful Sovereign.”

Kaoru sighs. The zodiac, of course. Why not. “Alright Bitsuki Sho,” Kaoru says, opening the door all the way. “Welcome to my apartment.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for the lovely responses last chapter! so glad to know the kaoshu world is larger than i thought :')

In the morning Kaoru stands in front of his bedroom door, staring at it like it holds the secrets to the universe. Schrodinger's guest...if Kaoru never opens the door and sees him does he _really_ even exist? But no matter how much he doesn’t want to deal with this situation—like, at all—he can’t stay cooped up in here forever. There’s classes to attend, clubs to skip, girls to date...and he just really, really needs to pee.

With a heavy sense of resignment Kaoru plasters on an airy smile and opens the door, peeking down the hall. All clear. He crosses over, uses the restroom, indulges in a pleasant fantasy that the apartment is empty, and then when he’s done he pads quietly into the living room, taking out his phone. He’s going to need a good distraction to get through this, he can tell.

“Hey, Etsuki-san?”

No response. He’s not on the couch where Kaoru had left him last night either. Maybe he really did leave. Lucky! Although it is a shame Kaoru didn’t get to ask him a thing or two before he went. You know, now that he takes a second to think about it, it really was sort of a rare opportuni—

Ker- _thump_. Ker- _thump_.

Um...what?

Ker- _thump._ Ker- _thump_. Ker- _thump_.

Kaoru spins to the corner where the racket is coming from and instantly feels the soul drain out of him through his feet. “...Itsubi-san, what are you doing?”

The man crouches in the corner, blanket over his head and tail sticking out. The silvery thing thumps at the ground in creepily regular intervals and in between those thumps Kaoru can make out a steady, low-volume muttering. He can’t distinguish a single word of it.

Kaoru takes a step forward, hesitates, and then begrudgingly puts a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, are you okay?”

Itsuki stiffens up so fast it feels like flesh has been transformed into marble. He yanks the blanket further down over his head and for a moment Kaoru’s afraid that the guy’s horns are going to pierce straight through it. “I’m perfectly fine!” Itsuki snaps. “Go away!”

“...this is my apartment, dude.”

“Hmph! Pathetic, not even a guest room in this hovel. Is this how all humans live? I’d rather die than be down here much longer—”

“You know I can hear you, right?” Kaoru sighs and unlocks his phone, scrolling through his contacts. Maybe Hinata-chan today…He sends her a message: _Hope your morning is as bright as you are, sunshine ;)_

“—stuck here while that vile Tenshouin tries to take my rightful place, I shudder to think what might happen if he gets his hands on any real power, and I swear if he lays _a single finger_ on Kagehira, just one—”

“Ugh, I think I liked it more when I couldn’t tell what you were saying~” But Kaoru’s bad mood disappears the moment his phone buzzes back. He opens the text to see a bubbly hello and an inquiry after his own morning. See? That’s more like it. Girls are just so much better than guys in every way. _Awful,_ he replies, _but it’s already getting better just talking to you, Hinata-chan._

“—on earth am I to get out if I’m denied access to shrines? How can I possibly speed up the process without—”

“Alright, Itsuki-san—” _Damn_ it, and Kaoru had been trying so hard to forget what Itsuki’s name was, “—I’m going to cook breakfast before I go. Want some?”

“Breakfast? You’re asking if I’ll eat your _human_ food?” Itsuki’s lip curls in disgust. “Eating is an unpleasant chore. I can barely force down the food of the gods.”

“Haha...alright, suit yourself~”

And the rest of the morning is pretty much more of the same. Kaoru leaves Itsuki to stew and talk to no one in the corner while he cooks himself breakfast, gets ready for school, and leisurely walks out the door. He usually tries to arrange it so that he arrives as close as possible to class starting, but at this rate he might actually arrive _early_ today. Gross.

At least he’d been able to burn some time texting the cute Hinata-chan and leaving out an extra plate of breakfast. Y’know.

Just in case.

 

* * *

 

Classes at Yumenosaki aren’t hard and Kaoru doesn’t think he misses anything by paying even less attention to them than usual. _Hey, Chiyo-chan,_ he texts, _just wanted to check that we’re still on for a date tonight. I found a new cafe that I think you’ll really like~_ When his phone buzzes with an affirmative reply, he smiles in relief. Thank god. Surrounded by dudes at school, honor-bound to put up with some weirdo dragon-guy for a few days at his own place...he’s in dire need of a nice, fun, soothing, _feminine_ presence.

Once the last class of the day is dismissed he’s out the door like a shot, angling towards freedom. He can pop in at the apartment for a minute to make sure Itsuki hasn’t caused any mayhem and then escape and hang around the arcade for a while until it’s time for—

“Oh, I do hope you aren’t walking in the opposite direction of the music room, Kaoru-kun,” comes a smooth and somewhat ancient-sounding voice.

Kaoru groans, slowing down but not stopping. “Hey, hey, can’t you cut me a break, Sakuma-san~?”

“I thought that’s what I was doing for the past three days by not fetching you,” Sakuma hums in amusement, falling into stride beside him. “I never have complaints about your performance while you’re on stage, but you have to attend practice now and then. Doggie and Adonis-kun are going to start to forget what your face looks like.”

“Oh come on, they don’t really need to know what I look like, do they?” Kaoru wheedles.

“Kaoru-kun.”

“What.”

“You haven’t been going to any of your club meetings recently either.”

Kaoru groans flat out, finally stopping and holding out his wrists like he’s being taken into custody. “Okay, okay, go ahead. Take me to practice. I give.”

Sakuma takes a wrist in hand and starts pulling him along, smirking at the extra-disgruntled look that puts on Kaoru’s face. “I thought you liked that club.”

“I like the ocean. I like relaxing. I’m not big on Mr. Stab-happy Club President,” Kaoru corrects. “Hey, can you make this fast though? This really isn’t a good day this time. Seriously.”

Sakuma still tugs him toward the music room, merciless. “He hasn’t even stabbed you once.”

“We’re stuck in a club alone together and he hates my guts, tell me it isn’t a matter of time.” Kaoru sighs, slowly resigning himself to his fate. Okay, so he’ll try to get out of practice as early as possible, check on Itsuki, and then go on his date. It all still works out. “He whips that thing out the moment I so much as look at him.”

“Oh my~” And Sakuma just laughs when Kaoru elbows him in response. “Well maybe he wouldn’t have such an...evocative reaction if you hadn’t hit on him the first time you met, hm?”

“That was an accident!” Kaoru squawks. “He looked like a chick from the back!”

“So you keep telling me,” Sakuma muses, towing him in through the doorway and presenting him to the rest of the room like a hard-won prize. “I have brought the lost lamb home.”

“About fucking time,” Koga growls, scrambling to his feet. He looks like he’s gearing up to really chew Kaoru out, but he blinks and frowns like he’s just discovered something really unsettling instead. “Hey. What the hell’s up with you?”

Adonis peers at him closely. “You seem tired. Are you low on iron? You should eat more m—”

“Yeah, no, my diet’s fine, thanks.”

Sakuma tsks. “Now, now, they’re just showing they care. It shouldn’t be such a bad thing to tell us what’s gotten you so busy, right?”

Kaoru looks off to the side and scrubs at his hair, defeated. Lesser of two evils, lesser of two evils. “Don’t make a big deal out of it. I was just out late. Hey, anyone know how to get rid of a guest? He’s only been at my place overnight and I’m already sick of him.”

“You have a _guy_ staying in your _house_?” Koga spits out slowly, eyebrows twisted in a painful and impossible-looking shape.

“Don’t look at me like that, doggie, didn’t I already say I don’t want him there?” Kaoru sighs, long and weary and put-upon. “This is what I get for pitying a guy…”

“And you picked him up last night?” Sakuma asks lightly, pinning him with a speculative look.

Kaoru doesn’t know what he likes the least: the implication that Sakuma’s planting there yet again, or the idea that Sakuma’s already picked up on Kaoru trying to distract them all from the original topic. “Yep. I was walking through the woods behind my place and found this guy all lost. Definitely not from around here.” Talk about understatement.

“Hmm.” Sakuma hums thoughtfully.

Kaoru’s expecting more grilling or teasing or something, but instead all Sakuma does is round everyone up and put them through their paces. Ugh. So much repetition. Kaoru tries to duck out early a few times, but each time he tries Adonis is blocking the way to the door with crossed arms and soulful eyes. Wow. He really must have worried them, huh. Has he really been flaking out _that_ much? Kaoru catches a ‘subtle’ side-glance from Koga. Guess so...

 

* * *

 

By the time Sakuma finally unhooks his claws and calls off the guard dogs to let Kaoru go, the day’s almost dead already. It doesn’t give him a whole bunch of time to drop by his place before his dinner date with Chiyo, but he’s got the creeping feeling he shouldn’t risk skipping it.

He unlocks the front door of his apartment, nudges it open with his foot, and ventures inside. It’s dark. “Itsuki-san?” he calls out. He’s struck with a strong sense of deja-vu. He passes past the plate of breakfast he’d left on the counter, looking exactly the way he’d left it that morning except a little sadder, a little colder, and a little grosser. “Are you _still_ in the corner…?”

Kaoru turns that way to squint into the darkness before giving up and flicking at the closest light switch. Empty. Kaoru sighs, turning away. Why does he have to get all worked up and worried over this gu— “WOAH!”

Kaoru clutches a hand over his own heart for a second before dropping it down casually at his side. “Ahaha...don’t scare me like that. What, you felt like playing hide and seek, Itsuki-sa—?” Kaoru’s voice abruptly cuts off and he blinks, speechless.

Itsuki stands stick straight, the gorged remains of a pillow hanging like a sad flag from one of his horns, the stuffing of it leaking down the side of his face and resting on his shoulder. He looks severely displeased. And maybe just a tad bit embarrassed. “Decorate better for your guests,” he huffs. “That nap was not restful.”

“I…” Kaoru peers over at the couch. Another pillow lays there, mostly intact except for the obvious stab wound in the middle. “You...killed my pillows…” Kaoru slumps. For some reason out of everything that’s happened so far this is the one thing that truly takes the wind out of his sails.

Itsuki’s eyebrows draw together. He opens his mouth and then closes it, a slight flush on his cheeks. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll fix them. Obviously.”

Kaoru eyes the shredded fabric caught on Itsuki’s horn with a healthy amount of skepticism.

“They’ll be much better,” Itsuki insists.

“Okay. Whatever.” Kaoru digs out his phone and checks the time, pushing Itsuki towards the couch with the other hand. “Anyway, you sit tight for another couple of hours and try not run anything else through, alright? I’ll be back later.”

Too stunned or maybe feeling too guilty to put up a fight, Itsuki sits. “You’re leaving? Now? Humans sleep at night, don’t they? Where on earth are you going at this hou—?”

“CAW.”

Both their heads swivel to the sound. Wow, that was loud. A crow? From outside?

“CRAW CAAAAAW!”

Geez, where is it? Right above their heads?

“Kagehira?” Itsuki freezes, listening intently. A mournful caw resounds again and he rockets up to his feet so fast the apartment shakes. “He’s HERE?!” Itsuki takes a step toward the noise and then freezes again, head tilting. Another caw comes from a different direction and he scowls, whipping that way. “That idiot! Dunce! Fool with a sieve for a brain!”

“CAW! _CAW!_ **_CAW!_ ** **CAW!** ”

Oh god, is it coming closer?

“Kagehira!” Itsuki bellows. “Leave this instant!”

THUD. Squeeeeee _eeeeeeeenk._

Itsuki bolts to the window and slaps his hands against the glass before scrabbling frantically at the edges of it. “Kagehira! How does this thing open?” He yanks up fruitlessly on it. “Curse this evil seal! I should be able to shatter this with a thought!”

Kaoru has no idea what’s going on but he can only watch Itsuki flail for so long before he’s crossing the room and opening the latch for him. He grasps the bottom pane and slides it up. “There, see? Stop trying to break my stuff.”

But Itsuki’s not listening, already sticking his head outside.

“So this Kagehira you keep talking about...is a crow.” Kaoru doesn’t really expect a response and doesn’t get one, Itsuki too absorbed in looking every which way. Kaoru stands there awkwardly. Maybe he should just...go.

“SCRRRRAAWWWWWW!!!!” A mass of black feathers shrieks, suddenly darting in through the open window and right at Kaoru’s face.

Kaoru lets out an unmanly yell and stumbles backwards, arms windmilling as wings slap at him. It’s relentless and Kaoru is quickly backed up against the wall, arms shielding his head.

“Kagehira! Non! What on earth are you doing, you daft creature?” Hands capture and pull the squawking bird away and Kaoru’s arms drop lifelessly. He watches dumbly as Itsuki smoothes feathers down and easily carries a one-sided conversation with it. “ _Defending_ me? Hmph. As if I was in danger. Absurd. I can take care of myself. You see now, I’m perfectly fine.”

“Squaa....” the crow says sadly. Then its beady little eye fixes on Kaoru again and he fluffs back up to twice his actual size. “CAW! CAW!”

“Kagehira,” Itsuki chides, with a small shake, “listen to me. This man is offering me shelter for a few days. He’s not a threat. And even if he was he wouldn’t be a match for me. Not even in this sorry state.”

Should he be offended by that? Itsuki always looks brittle enough to get snapped in half at any given moment.

“Scree!”

“Of course. I won’t be defeated so easily after all,” Itsuki declares, finally managing to get the crow looking more crow-shaped and less like an angry pom-pom. His fingers travel expertly over every inch and every feather, inspecting carefully.

“Oshi-san!” cries the crow happily. “Oshi-san!”

Wait, what the _fuck._ No. No. No. No more.

“Right. Okay. Glad you found your friend. I’m just gonna…” Leave and never come back. Change his name and fly out the country. Go back to his dad’s house. Something. Fuck. Maybe he can ask Sakuma for traveling tips.

Itsuki waves him off, absorbed in his task, and Kaoru walks right out the door on autopilot. What’s he supposed to be doing again? Right. A date. He plops down on a curb under a streetlight and takes his phone out again, staring blankly at the time. If he hurries he’ll only be maybe five minutes late. He’ll still be in his uniform, but he doesn’t think she’ll mind. He dials Chiyo’s number and hears the ring, ring ring of the other line.

“Kaoru-kun! Couldn’t wait for long enough to see me?” she giggles.

“Ah, yeah…”

“Kaoru-kun...? What is it? Is there something wrong?”

Words stick in his throat. He can’t explain this kind of situation to anyone, but would he try if it was something more normal? Probably not. He hasn’t before. There’s never any point. Just go have fun for an hour or two, Kaoru, while you still can. You can’t do anything about this right now anyway. Just go.

“Um. Are you still there?” she asks.

“Yeah I’m here, Chiyo-chan. Sorry.” Kaoru musters up a laugh. “Um. I’ve had some crazy stuff happen today?

“What? Really? Are you canceling on me? But I just got my makeup done just right,” she pouts. “What if I get someone else to show me around town then, hm? What do you think about that?”

“Trying to make me jealous?” Kaoru says with the hint of a more genuine smile in his voice.

“Can’t blame me for trying~”

“I don’t think I’d be very fun tonight,” Kaoru admits, “but I’ll make it up to you next time. I promise~”

“Mmmm, okay. But only if you get me some of that chocolate cake I like.”

“Deal.”

Call over, Kaoru lets himself fall back until he’s sprawled out on the ground. So. That’s that, then. No date.

...

Fuck it. He’s going to the beach.


End file.
